TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The Taipei District Court (台北地方法院) launched a hearing at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday (Sept. 5) to address procedural matters in the Core Pacific City (京華城) case involving Taiwan People's Party (TPP, 民眾黨) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). Authorities reportedly deployed 400 police officers to maintain security.
The court will first handle procedural issues, including new evidence submitted by the prosecution, before formally opening the detention hearing.
The Taipei District Prosecutor's Office (台北地檢署) had initially sought to detain Ko, but the court released him without bail. However, the High Court (高等法院) remanded the case for reconsideration on Wednesday.
Prosecutors began investigating the Core Pacific City redevelopment project on Aug. 30, suspecting Ko and former Taipei Deputy Mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲) of accepting bribes and other corruption-related offenses. They argued that the severity of the charges and the risk of evidence tampering justified detaining both men.
The court previously ruled that Ko, not being a committee member, lacked direct knowledge of the meetings and relevant expertise and thus did not find sufficient evidence to detain him. However, Pong was detained due to the severity of the allegations against him.
Both prosecutors and Pong appealed the decision. The High Court found that further investigation into Ko's involvement was necessary and returned the case to the district court. Pong's appeal lacked the required signatures, prompting the High Court to request corrections before making a new ruling.